Matron shrugged. ‘Who knows? He said that these days it’s a common occurrence.’

Bringing the conversation back to where it had originally started, Matron informed Ada that they would make finding temporary nursing help a priority.

‘Actually,’ she started awkwardly, ‘in time, we were hoping that …’ Blushing, she left the sentence hanging.

‘That I’d carry on where I left off,’ Ada teased.

Matron nodded before quickly saying, ‘When the time is right, of course.’

‘You know I’d love to come back,’ Ada smiled. ‘I’ve always said that was what I wanted to do.’

‘No pressure, dear,’ Matron insisted. ‘You and the baby come first.’

‘I know that,’ Ada earnestly agreed.

Matron beamed. ‘So, for the time being, we’ll settle for a supply nurse, then,’ she said happily.

‘But you must promise to get somebody as soon as possible,’ Ada urged. ‘I don’t want my nearest and dearest wearing themselves out.’

‘Promise,’ Matron replied, before she flung her arms around Ada. ‘Dearest girl, it will be lovely to have you back among us once more – we’ve missed you so much.’

Sister Theresa walked Ada back to her cottage.

‘I’m fine,’ Ada insisted, as she pushed sleeping Catherine in the pram that she had borrowed from the Home.

‘We can see that,’ Theresa giggled. ‘But, as you know, we always see our patients off the premises.’

Remembering the many times she had accompanied patients to a waiting car or to Kents Bank Station, Ada nodded in agreement with Theresa.

‘Thank you, for a minute there I had forgotten the protocol.’

Peering into the pram at the peaceful baby, Theresa said, ‘She’s got your mouth and nose; she’ll be a beauty like her mother.’

Using Theresa’s old name, the one that was hers before she became a nun, Ada exclaimed, ‘Oh, Shirley, I’m just so very happy – if my darling were here with me, my life would be perfect.’ She stopped short as guilt swept over her. ‘Life can’t be perfect when there’s a world war raging, can it?’ she muttered miserably.

‘Darling, you must seize every moment of joy that there is to be found in these dark days,’ Theresa cried. ‘A new baby, a new life, is something to rejoice about, war or not. And look at her, so sweet and innocent, she’s a wonder to behold.’

After Theresa had safely deposited her patient back home, Ada felt a rush of deep emotion. Imagining that her beloved Jamie was beside her, she murmured, ‘This is your home, sweetheart, this is where you’ll live with your mummy and your daddy.’